gimmick post time

This is my first loop mix. You’ll see what a mean in a second here.

A “loop mix”, as I’m calling it, is a mix where every song is tangibly linked to the songs before and after it and the last song is linked to the first, forming a loop. This mix, the links are covers.

the “Rules”:

• the first released recording’s artist counts as the original
• the song has to be released—no live bootlegs or demos, the artist/ label has to have thought enough of the cover to release it
• unusual covers or covers with a big of the “huh?” or “what were they thinking” quality were preferred

Alright, here’s the mix:

1. The Decemberists cover Elliott Smith:
   the Decemberists – Clementine (mp3) (buy)
2. Elliott Smith covers Big Star:
   Elliott Smith – Thirteen (mp3) (buy)
3. Big Star covers the Kinks:
   Big Star – Till the End of the Day (mp3) (buy)
4. the Kinks cover Martha Reeves and the Vandellas:
   the Kinks – Dancin’ in the Streets (mp3) (buy)
5. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas cover the Beatles:
   Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – Something (mp3) (buy)
6. the Beatles cover Ray Charles:
   The Beatles – I Got a Woman (mp3) (buy)
7. Ray Charles covers Paul Simon:
   Ray Charles – Still Crazy After All These Years (mp3) (buy)
8. Simon & Garfunkel cover Bob Dylan:
   Simon & Garfunkel – The Times, They Are A-Changin’ (mp3) (buy)
9. Bob Dylan covers Johnny Cash:
   Bob Dylan – Ring of Fire (mp3) (buy)
10. Johnny Cash covers U2:
    Johnny Cash – One (mp3) (buy)
11. U2 covers Patti Smith:
    U2 – Dancing Barefoot (mp3) (buy)
12. Patti Smith covers the Decemberists:
    Patti Smith – Here I Dreamt I was an Architect (mp3) (buy)

Honestly, that’s a really odd mix, just taken at face value. While we’re being honest, a lot of those songs aren’t better than the originals either.

My picks:

• best recording (not considering whether it’s a cover): Thirteen by Elliott Smith
• best cover:: Johnny Cash’s “One”. This one has grown on me tremendously over the last few years. Now Johnny’s voice seems to add so much to this song.
• best at making it his own: Ray Charles with “Still Crazy”. I forget the Paul Simon version when I hear this version
• biggest “huh??” moment: Patti Smith covering the Decemberists
• most unnecessary cover: the judge is still undecided, but is leaning toward the Kink’s “Dancin’ in the Streets”.

Acknowledgements:

• The Covers Project talked about “covers chains”, but not a loop. Also, it was marginally useful for finding about five of these links.
• Music for Kids Who Can’t Read Good did a covers chain, even including some of these same links, but it also skipped some steps and wasn’t a loop and used live bootlegs (which is fine, I just chose not to).

Any suggestions for what criterion should be the basis for the next mix (like covers was for this one)? I’m thinking bands or members of bands guest recording on other bands’ albums.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 10th, 2007 at 6:17 pm Posted by adrian in mixtape, mp3s. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.